The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-02-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what role the Garter King of Arms and the College of Arms have in the formulation of policy and practice on the rules and regulations governing the use, style and designation accorded to UK nationals and UK dual nationals of the Queen’s Commonwealth realms.
James Duddridge
The recognition of foreign honours is a matter for the Royal Prerogative.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what budget he plans to allocate to each clinical commissioning group in England to support the effective transfer of obesity surgery in April in a manner consistent with NICE’s clinical guidelines.
George Freeman
NHS England is not currently able to provide a figure for individual clinical commissioning groups on 1 April 2016 as the basis for calculating the figures is still being finalised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Davis on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23886, whether asset-sharing in Syria, Iraq or Libya was considered at the meeting of the Reaper User Group that took place on 14 to 18 March.
Penny Mordaunt
The MQ-9 Users Group primarily discussed generic, future interoperability between US, UK, French and Italian Reaper operators, particularly in terms of software standards, logistics and training. The sharing of assets in Syria, Iraq and Libya was therefore not discussed explicitly.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-04-21.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) incidents have been reported to trading standards teams of and (b) prosecutions have taken place for food with falsely-labelled ingredients in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Jane Ellison
Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.
Data is reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues; 23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.
Data is also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 75 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.
The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-06-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost to the NHS of each new HIV infection.
Jane Ellison
In 2014/15, NHS England provided over £553 million of funding for the care and treatment of around 78,000 diagnosed HIV patients. A mathematical equation using these two figures would not result in an accurate cost for each new HIV infection as treatment varies according to clinical need and other factors such as age.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Zeichner on 2016-09-02.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the (a) automotive sector and (b) low emission vehicles market.
Mr John Hayes
The Government remains committed to almost every car and van in the UK being a zero emission vehicle by 2050. The Government is committed to making a success of the negotiations to leave the EU and will work hard to get the best deal for Britain. In the meantime, Departments will continue working to deliver the Government agenda.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-10-10.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the European Arrest Warrant system will cease to have legal force in the UK following Brexit.
Baroness Williams of Trafford
We are leaving the EU but co-operation on security with our European and global allies will be undiminished.
Officials are exploring options for cooperation arrangements once the UK has left the EU. We will do what is necessary to keep people safe, but it would be wrong to set out our position in advance of negotiations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Laird on 2015-10-29.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they owe the government of the United States for activities in the First World War; what are the repayment arrangements; and when the repayments will be completed.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The United Kingdom owed around £850 million to the United States for activities in the First World War. However, in 1931 the United States proposed a temporary moratorium on all War debts, to allow for negotiations on debt repayment. Following negotiations, no satisfactory agreement was reached and as such, repayments were cancelled between the United Kingdom and United States. The last repayment from the United Kingdom to the United States for debt from the First World War was made in the financial year 1932-33.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dawn Butler on 2015-11-26.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of British tourists in Tunisia.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We continue to advise against all but essential travel to Tunisia. We advise any British nationals who choose to travel to or remain in Tunisia to check that their insurance policy provides adequate cover, to be especially vigilant and to follow the advice of the Tunisian security authorities.
We have almost doubled our support for Tunisia this year. We are working closely with the Tunisian government to improve their protective security and build their capacity to deter and respond to terrorist threats. We are also working with professionals in the tourist industry in popular tourist areas such as Sousse and Hammamet to build their awareness of the threat and to put in place appropriate security measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-01-08.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will adjust the points-based visa criteria to reflect differences in regional average income levels.
James Brokenshire
Salary requirements form part of the criteria for Tier 2 of the Points Based System for immigration – the skilled work route. For the future, the Government intends that employers should only bring in workers from outside Europe where they have genuine skills shortages or require highly-specialised experts. In June last year, we commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on how to achieve this, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers.
Among other things, the MAC was asked to advise on minimum salary levels, and to consider the regional impact of all its recommendations. The MAC has now submitted its advice to the Home Secretary and is expected to publish the report shortly. We will consider the findings carefully.